I remember hearing about the short story, The Lottery, many years ago.
People raved about it but they also gave away the plot.

After reading another one of Shirley Jackson's short stories that I
stumbled upon in a grammar book, After You My Dear Alphonse, I wondered
if I would like The Lottery as much.

Next, I heard The Lottery read on Selected Shorts on National
Public Radio and I was very disappointed. It seemed like it didn't
stand up to the test time. I thought that maybe it made a big stir when
it first appeared in the New Yorker because of its shock value and not
its literary value.

But then I picked it up and read it myself and I found I liked it a
lot more than when I heard it on NPR. Why? I don't know. What probably
made a difference was the pacing.

When I heard it on the radio, I thought that the beginning was too drawn
out with unimportant details underlining too much how identifiably mundane
the setting was. The over attention to detail reminded me of another writer
for the New Yorker, J.D.
Salinger (A Perfect Day for Bananafish, Green My Eyes, Uncle Wiggly)
who could be accused of doing a fine job of writing at length about practically
nothing. Was this part of the New Yorker style? Enough of what people were
wearing and how many clouds there were in the sky. It seemed maddeningly
slow when you thought about the violent end you knew would come.

Also, when it was read on the radio, the reader kept the same voice
and expression for all of the dialogue. This probably made it more difficult
for my imagination to distinguish between the characters.

A week before Halloween I curled up with a copy of the story, expecting
to dislike it, but I found that I liked it very much and thought it was
rather well written.

My only hesitation with sharing this with my 7th grade class was that
it's rather long and that they might drown in the undramatic mundane details....

When I read the story I didn't find anything that I would have suggested
be cut. The details, descriptions, causal dialogue, all seemed to have
a purpose. They weren't broad brushed background, or an intentional lulling
to accentuate the shock at the end.

I wouldn't want my students to miss any of the minor details of the
story so I wouldn't abridge it. I would also divide the story into three
or four parts to be read slowly over a period of days. The effect of the
ending is more powerful when you realize that all the proceeding pages
have significance.

Because of the harvest season setting and the gruesome plot, this story
would be appropriate proceeding Halloween.

I divided the reading into three parts. I didn't want any students skipping
a head to see how it ended.

Concerning pages 372-373

How large is the village?

Describe the box.

Describe Mr. Summers

What did the boys make piles of?

Why aren't chips of wood used any more?

Have you ever participated in a lottery?

How often did the village hold the lottery?

When was the first box made for this village?

Why do you think some people wanted to continue to use the wood chips?

What did the men talk about when they began to gather?

Did they stand near the stones or away from the stones?

What were their jokes like?

Who swore in Mr. Summers?

Who is the oldest man in the village?

How long had this village used ships of wood?

What was in Bobby Martin's pockets?

What were the women wearing?

Does the village have a bank?

Does the village have a grocery store?

What were some of the lists that had to be made up?

How did most of the men make a living?

Concerning pages 374-375

Who arrived late?

What was she doing that made her late?

Why wasn't Clyde Dunbar there?

What question did Mr. Summers ask that he already knew the answer to?

If he knew the answer, why did he ask the question?

Who's drawing for the Watson family?

Who is older, Horace or Jack?

What is Mr. Summers' first name?

What is Mr. Adams first name?

What is Mr. Dunbar's first name?

Why were Tessie's hands wet?

What is Tessie's last name?

What is Tessie's husband's name?

In what kind of order did Mr. Summers' read off the family name?

How did Mr. Graves great Mr. Summers?

Concerning pages 376-379

Where are they talking about giving up the lottery?

Who does Old Man Warner think is responsible for such talk?

What is the saying that Old Man Warner quotes?

What doesn't Old Man Warner like about the way that Mr. Summers is running
the lottery?

What are the names of Tessie's three children?

What is it about the drawing that Tessie says is unfair?

In what kind of order does Mr. Summers call on the members of the Hutchinson
family?

Why does Old Man Warner say, "People aren't the way they used to be?"

Why do you think Little Davy isn't being helped by his father or brother?

Did Tessie run or stand still?

Do you think Little Davy threw his pebbles? Why?

Why in the world would these nice, friendly villagers kill one of their
own like this every year?

We spent several days on the story, going through it slowly.

I started the class everyday by passing around slips of paper and I
told students that they may write their names on it.

Then I passed around around a black box with an opening on the top of
it. I didn't tell the students what do it. Reflexively, they put the slips
of paper with their names on it in the box. Then I reached in, pulled out
a name and gave the student a piece of candy.

We did this day after day and it reinforced their idea of a lottery
as something that is pleasant.

Unfortunately, the ending of the story didn't have the strong impact
I was hoping for.

Why? I'm not sure, but here are some guesses.

My students have no background knowledge of a time or place where a
group of people would make a sacrificial offering to a deity. Nor do they
have any concept of worshiping a deity that would be anything other than
sweet and kind.

Nor are they familiar with stoning.

When we read this story again next year, I'll be sure to provide them
with this baseline knowledge. Maybe we'll view selected scenes from The
Ten Commandments and Joe and the Volcano. I heard there exists a film adaptation
of the Lottery but I haven't been able to track it down.